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The Shins’ fifth studio album, Heartworms, is a celebration of front man James Mercer and his defining sound. Mercer is the only remaining member of the original formation of the band and on Heartworms, he makes the case that he was always the only member that mattered. ‘Heartworms’ By The Shins Album Review Self-produced, the […]

Source: uInterview

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"You gotta hear this one song. It'll change your life, I swear," a girl (Sam) in a doctor's waiting room once said to a boy (Andrew) who looked a lot like Zach Braff. Then, she placed a pair of headphones over his ears and played him The Shins.

Garden State's soundtrack became a must-have for all fans in 2004 thanks to its effective use - and curation - of indie artists, acoustic ditties and mild electronica. It was an album that showed a jukebox soundtrack (traditionally the territory of Tarantino) could do something different, whether that was introducing people to obscure bands they hadn't heard of or connecting you with others who also liked the movie's music.

10 years later, filmmakers are still chasing the same thing: the ultimate mixtape.

The Shins have a great tune "So Says I," but now it's time for a hazy "So Now What." The indie rockers -- who have been curbed more recently as James Mercer has pursued other musics with Danger Mouse in their project Broken Bells -- contributed the new tune to Zach Braff's "Wish I Were Here" film, which went the crowd-funding route last year. As you'll remember, Natalie Portman famously put headphones on Braff's head to the tune of The Shins "New Slang" in the former "Scrubs" star's directorial debut "Garden State" (2004). "It'll change your life, I swear," her character Sam says. Well, it certainly did change the band life of The Shins. So the circle of life continues. "Wish I Was Here" also has new songs from the likes of Bon Iver, Coldplay and Cat Power, plus previously released songs from The Head and the Heart and Hozier.

So many music fans have lived for the albums Gnarls Barkley–CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse–were creating. They haven’t made an album in recent years due to the two partners doing different projects, most notably, Green’s high-powered stint on NBC’s “The Voice” and Danger Mouse’s work with The Shins’ James Mercer on “Broken Bells.” But, according to Time, the two are getting back together again in 2014! TMZ broke this news when they posted a video Sunday of Green being asked whether he would collaborate again with Danger Mouse. “Yeah, next year,” Green responded. Now it’s time to speculate as to what kind of subject matter the upcoming album will consist [ Read More ]

Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell is looking to bring a new kind of music performance series to primetime.

The Lollapalooza founder is shopping a project to broadcast networks that takes the TV music show out of the hands of amateur singers and gives it back to the pros. The series would simply feature spectacular live performances by popular artists — no judges, no eliminations.

One could see why networks might be intrigued: Music performance-driven award shows like the Grammys and CMAs have continued to rack up big ratings in recent years, even as the average audience for other genres has declined.

This isn't The Shins' first time in the national spotlight -- those honors go to the movie "Garden State," in which Natalie Portman's character shared the wonder of the indie pop band with Zach Braff, saying, "You gotta hear this one song -- it'll change your life; I swear."

The band is back with a new album, "Port of Morrow," which comes out March 20, and appeared on the Jonah Hill-hosted "Saturday Night Live" in advance of its release.

Frontman James Mercer performed new single "Simple Song," followed by the new track "It's Only Life," on March 10's "SNL." We're big fans of the band, so we were delighted to see them get such great exposure. The new songs are great, and the performance rocked -- especially compared to some of this season's musical guests.

What did you think? Were you familiar with the band before? Check out the

What parent wouldn't want their parting sentiment to their children to be "You'll be sorry when I'm dead?" James Mercer has that kind of vision for his once and future kin in "Simple Song," which sends his "children" -- played partly by his Shins bandmates -- on an adventure through their old house and memories for a little closure on Mercer's last will and testament. Entertainingly macabre. The Shins are releasing their next album "Port of Morrow" on March 20, and in promoting it, they've been invited back to "Saturday Night Live" for a second time. They'll be joined by Jonah...

Matt McCormick’s debut feature film Some Days Are Better Than Others is screening for one week, from June 3 to 9, at Cinema Village in NYC. You can look up specific showtimes and buy tickets in advance online at the theater’s website.

The film is a fictional narrative about the lives of several people living on the fringes of society, including an animal shelter worker who is obsessed with reality TV, a slacker who holds off finding employment, a thrift store worker and an elderly filmmaker.

Some Days are Better Than Others is a poetic, character-driven film that asks why the good times slip by so fast while the difficult times seem so sticky. The film explores ideas of abundance, emptiness, human connection and abandonment while observing

Mathew Cooper, who records as Eluvium, was struck by the themes of damaged things in director Matt McCormick's "Some Days Are Better Than Others" when he set about scoring the film, and decided to use an cache of damaged equipment to do it.

Years of thrifting all manner of junked keyboards and gear finally paid off for Cooper who longed to lure out the "ghosts" within them. The result is his moving score, thick with nostalgic drone, quietly bursting with broken things. It's being released April 26th, on Temporary Residence Ltd. You can listen to the title track here, courtesy of Pitchfork.

Celebrating its 40th year of spotlighting the world’s best up-and-coming feature filmmakers, the Museum of Modern Art and Film Society of Lincoln Center’s prestigious New Directors/New Films series has chosen Portland-based experimental filmmaker Matt McCormick‘s Some Days Are Better Than Others to screen.

McCormick is hardly a “new” director. He’s been making short films and music videos since 1999. However, Some Days Are Better Than Others is his first feature-length project. The movie follows the lives of several quirky Portland residents who all experience the good times of their lives slipping quickly into memory, while their more painful moments are so difficult to let go of.

With Tsr Buzz, you’ll find links to articles, videos and other random things that will help you waste your time just a little bit more.

Like Nick, I have the post-Grammy fever. Arcade Fire’s win was so well-earned, it’s one of those award show moments where you really feel that what happened was right (another such victory in my mind was American Beauty‘s win at the Oscars.) Here, Arcade Fire performs an electric version of “Ready To Start” after winning their Grammy.

Lady Gaga disappointed me on Sunday. Her “costume” resembled a bikini raincoat and the egg looked cool, but wasn’t very functional. Plus her song sounded exactly like Madonna’s “Express Yourself”. I was hoping that Her Madgesty would jump out and join in the performance, but oh well. Fever Ray’s Karin Andersson won an award at a Swedish music awards show back in June.

Carrie Brownstein ought to write a movie about rock and roll. She's played guitar for the eminent rock band Sleater-Kinney. She has a music blog on NPR.org called Monitor Mix, and has also written for Slate and the Believer. And she's acting in her first feature-length film, "Some Days Are Better Than Others," which premiered Sunday here at SXSW. In the film, directed by Matt McCormick, she stars alongside fellow Portland musician James Mercer, formerly of the Shins and currently of Broken Bells, this year's featured band at SXSW. Her double duties at this year's fest -- as an actor and as a curator for NPR's showcase -- have her feeling invigorated. Over the phone from a hotel room in Austin, Carrie recounted Sunday's cringing movie-viewing experience, broke down her transition from musician to writer, and hinted at a Sleater-Kinney reunion as but one of her near future musical endeavors.

If you've been wondering what's been up with The Shins, you'll find your answer from at least the indie-rock group's frontman James Mercer. The singer-songwriter has gotten involved in a non-music endeavor by starring in forthcoming indie flick "Some Days Are Better Than Others," which will debut during the film and music portions at the South by Southwest Film + Music Festival, March 12-20. Carrie Brownstein, current NPR contributor and former guitarist/singer for Sleater-Kinney, stars alongside Mercer in the low-budget, feature-length film, the first film written and directed by Matt McCormick. "Some Days" "explores ideas of abundance, emptiness, human connection and abandonment...

Expect the indie-rock crowd to turn out in droves for Matt McCormick's indie drama Some Days Are Better Than Others. What looks to be a very introspective and quietly quirky piece of work, music video director McCormick called in a pair of former clients - James Mercer from The Shins and Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney - to star in his feature debut. The synopsis to this one doesn't offer a lot int he way of hooks but the trailer makes it very clear that this will be all about mood and execution. Here's how the official website describes it:

Some Days are Better Than Others is Matt McCormick's poetic, character-driven debut feature-length film that asks why the good times slip by so fast while the difficult times seem so sticky. The film explores ideas of abundance, emptiness, human connection and abandonment while observing an interweaving web of awkward

Not all of the great film festivals are outside of the U.S. Even if you can’t book a ticket to Cannes or Berlin, you should be able to afford a flight out to Austin, Texas for SXSW, which is a festival for not only movies, but music and video games as well. Like the years before, the line-up for the 2010 SXSW Film Festival is the goods. Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass will open up the fest and then there will be other great-looking films throughout including The Duplass Brothers’ Cyrus, SNL’s hard-r adaptation of MacGruber, Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, and Floria Sigismondi’s The Runaways, just to name a few. If you’re going to this year’s SXSW, let me know so I can steal your identity and go in your place.

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